The Buzz About Us

Catrina Boisson

"Neill Archer Roan is not just a great consultant, he is a great partner. He and his team take the time to get to know and understand your organization – the challenges, strengths and the internal dynamics that drive decision making.

Combining creativity and rigorous analysis, Neill brings breakthrough ideas to the table as well as new ways to look at old problems. He pushes the organization to take their efforts to the next level, but is realistic about capacity and expectations. Neill is genuinely interested in helping his clients be successful. He has the skills and the ability to make an impression on even the most skeptical leadership group but he is also a master at making his client look good.

I have had the pleasure of working with Neill on three engagements and would hire the Roan Group again in a heartbeat."

Catrina Boisson, Vice President • Marketing
New Jersey Performing Arts Center

Susan Schadt

"It was an interesting experience to look so closely at ourselves as an active brand in the community—how we express our mission, how others view our work, and how we wish to grow and develop. Neill made what might have been a difficult look in the mirror into a process filled with insight, intelligence and enlightenment. He cleared away the forest so we could see the trees." We are now living the brand, literally and figuratively. When Neill visited our new location recently, I told him we at ARTsMemphis feel as if we are living inside of our logo."

Susan Schadt, President and CEO
ArtsMemphis

Andrew Taylor

"Neill Archer Roan knows brand like a great artist knows paint...not just the surface color but the pigment, the physics, the limits, and the expressive potential of it all. Better yet, he conveys that knowledge with clarity and passion, making deep ideas immediately relevant and useful. This is powerful stuff."

Andrew Taylor, Director
Bolz Center for Arts Administration
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Myra Millinger

"Thanks so much for all you did to make Friday a superb day. Your lunch talk was the highlight, and I hope you will use the information shared with others because it is vital in the current ecology."

Myra Millinger, President
Metro Phoenix Partnership for Arts and Culture

Rick Talaske

“Neill Archer Roan is a brilliant brand strategist and strategic planner.”

Rick Talaske, President and Principal Acoustician
TALASKE

Marilyn Santarelli

“The whole process from the assessment phase, through the interviews, to the report and recommendations was meticulously managed. Given how detailed the work was, Neill built consensus among people who weren't that crazy about the process, and then refocused them on the work program. The engagement was very successful.”

Marilyn Santarelli, Executive Director
F. M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts

Anita Scism

"Neill’s work with our organization over three years has had a profound effect. Neill’s skill in the analysis and synthesizing of overwhelming amounts of information is unparalleled, but what I am most appreciative of is his skill as a teacher. My staff and I learned so much and have felt empowered to move forward in our own way with bold new initiatives that he helped put in place."

Anita Scism, President and CEO (former)
Walton Arts Center

L. Peter Feldman

Neill not only knows about branding theory in depth, but his experience as an art director can take you seamlessly from a theoretical discussion to a practical demonstration of something that feels, sounds and LOOKS good. In other words, he can walk the talk.

Neill's presentations are liberally laced with an entertainment factor that helps push the message home more forcefully. He puts the information out there in a way with which it's impossible not to connect.

If there's anyone in North America doing better work on branding, it's news to me.

L. Peter Feldman, Executive Director | Directeur General (former)
Canadian Arts Presenting Association | l’Association canadienne des organismes artistiques

Gary Scarafoni

“When the Colonial Theatre undertook its 20 million dollar restoration, it utilized a number of consultants and professional advisors. By far the best and the most productive were Neill and Wendy Roan. Aside from doing a superb job in branding they became personally involved and dedicated to the successful resolution of a number of serious issues the Theatre faced. Their insight and past working knowledge of theatre operations proved invaluable in solving the myriad of issues a start-up theatre faces. It became obvious that this was not just another job for them. They were willing to do whatever it took to help the Colonial succeed."

Gary Scarafoni, Chairman, Board of Directors
The Colonial Theatre

Susan Farr

"Neill and Wendy challenged us to think deeply about our mission and to articulate it with clarity and authenticity. As a result of our work with the Roan Group, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is strongly aligned around that mission and is identified by a clear identifiable brand."

Susan Farr, Executive Director
Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts at Maryland

Stephen Richard

"The single most financial beneficial piece of marketing we have ever done and we have done plenty. Given both the financial and intangible results from this work, we could have paid 10 times what we paid for the study and it still would have had a positive impact on the investment in the first year alone."

Stephen Richard, Executive Director (former)
Arena Stage

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"Neill’s broad cultural intelligence and profound understanding of the field of contemporary dance made him the ideal person to re-brand and transform our image, and in the process make it more true, and more precisely who we are. Working closely with our board, dancers, and staff, he was able to synthesize in images and words the essence of Pascal’s choreography, and our organizational philosophy. His plain spoken honesty and artistic sophistication is a wonderful and formidable combination, so necessary in communicating about the arts and the worlds of passion and subtlety they convey."

Joyce Herring, Associate Artistic Director & Executive Director
RIOULT

Gary Lustig, Director, Ticket Philadelphia

We engaged Neill Archer Roan to do an analysis of our business, our market and to create a business development plan, if justified by the results of the analysis. Our business is a unique model and there are not a lot of companies that we compare with easily. Over a period of six months this work and more was successfully completed. Neill’s insight into business, arts marketing and branding resulted in the creation of a thoughtful, detailed and executable plan that will allow us to grow our business and help other arts organizations grow their business.